


love hurts

by Anonymous



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 3 + 1, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Attempt at Humor, Dates, Falling In Love, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Love at First Sight, M/M, OiSuga Valentines Exchange 2021, Romantic Fluff, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day Fluff, Volleyball Dorks in Love, a bit of blood, getting hurt unintentionally, no beta we die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 04:26:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29289810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: “And you need to stop hurting me to use it as an excuse to take me out on a date.”“I don’t do it on purpose, ok?”“If you say so~”or 3 times tooru hurts koushi and one time he didn'tfor OiSuga Valentines Exchange 2021
Relationships: Oikawa Tooru/Sugawara Koushi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 28
Collections: OiSuga Valentines Exchange 2021





	love hurts

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LF_redheadfly](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LF_redheadfly/gifts).



> from all the choices i was given, i chose the winter theme along with valentines to write this story and i hope it ended up good ><
> 
> this is for Lucky! i really hope you like it~

The first time it happened was during elementary school.

Koushi struggled with his tiny legs on the swing and he really wanted to play in it. He pouted, getting adorably frustrated with everything, so when another kid as tiny as him approached the swings with a smile he immediately asked them to push him so he could play.

“You’re cute.” the kid said to him while pushing his back “Maybe cuter than me!”

“Really?” he laughed “I’m Koushi! I’m seven!”

“I’m Tooru! I’m seven too!” the kid smiled brightly, stopping the swing “Can I call you Kou-chan?”

“Only if I can call you Tocchan.”

“Kou-chan!”

“Tocchan!”

Koushi offered his hand, like he saw his father do before, and Tooru held his hand firmly and they shook it with serious expressions on their faces before laughing really loudly.

“Tocchan, push me harder so I can go higher!” Koushi pleaded with big eyes, using his secret super power that made every adult do what he wanted.

“Ok!” Tooru nodded, puffing his chest out.

Koushi giggled before he settled on the swing more comfortably, ready to reach higher. Little hands pushed his back with more force, but it wasn’t enough so he asked for more, and more, and more, and Tooru used all his force to help his new friend, sinking his little feet on the sand under him, and scrunching up his nose in concentration.

But he ended up using too much force and Koushi, instead of swinging higher, became unbalanced and flew from the swing, falling on the ground and rolling a few meters forward with a loud yelp, surprising everyone nearby who stopped what they were doing to watch him. Tooru froze, hands still in the right place to push Koushi when he came swinging back, watching with horror his friend get up with teary eyes, holding up his knee.

“O-ouch…”

The kids bolted to the crying boy, asking if he was okay and yelling for one of the teachers when they saw blood coming out of his pale knee.

“K-kou-chan!” Tooru yelped, crouching beside him with teary eyes, hands flailing wanting to hug him but afraid to touch him “I-i’m sorry.”

“Oikawa you dumb.” someone said, slapping the back of the boy’s haid.

“Iwa-chan…” he almost sobbed.

The teachers soon arrived, wide eyes and calming hands, taking Koushi to the infirmary quickly enough, one of them staying behind to talk to Tooru and calm him, while the others pushed the kids away to continue their playing.

“I-i’m so-sorry…” he sobbed “I didn’t w-want to hurt Kou-chan.”

“Shh, it’s ok, Tooru-kun. Can you tell me what happened?” the teacher smiled softly, petting his head.

“I pushed him too hard.” he pointed at the empty swings “He said ‘harder, Tocchan!’ and I pushed him harder, but he fell. And Iwa-chan punched me.” Tooru pouted, sniffing loudly.

“It’s ok. Koushi-kun is fine, you’ll see. Do you want to go see him?”

The kid nodded before looking up “Is it fine if I give him something to say I’m sorry?”

“You have to ask Koushi-kun.”

He did and Koushi was beaming brightly enough to say Tooru could bring him something.

So the next day, with his mother’s help and Iwa-chan’s snickers, Tooru came to class with an orange tulip in one hand and alien band-aids in his bag. The first thing he did was asking one of the teachers if Kou-chan was already at school and then walking to his class with determination, bringing Iwa-chan with him by force because he wanted to have moral support. He opened the door with a loud bang, not caring about the other kids who started to whisper, letting go of his friend’s hand and going directly to Koushi’s table.

“Kou-chan.” he called.

The other boy looked up from his book with a curious gaze and smiled “Tocchan.”

“This is for you.” he said, extending his arms and giving the flower to him “The onee-san at the flower shop said it’s perfect to say I’m sorry, so I’m sorry I pushed you too hard yesterday. And…” he felt himself blush while opening his bag to take the band-aid box “This too.”

Koushi looked at it with wonder, eyes shining and mouth slightly open, hugging the items to his chest with a pleased expression “Thank you.”

“And…” Tooru pouted, looking elsewhere and kicking the air “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

“Happy.” the boy giggled.

“I-i want something on White Day!” he scrunched up his nose and said a soft bye before bolting to the door, grabbing Iwa-chan back to their class.

  
  
  
  
  
  


The second time it happened, they were in junior high school.

Tooru was angry. So,  _ so _ angry, at his coach, at Tobio-chan, at Iwa-chan… at himself, even. He was basically thrown out of volleyball practice today because apparently he was being too childish and annoying for anyone to deal with it and Iwaizumi had really punched him _ hard _ on the shoulder before dragging him by his collar and yelled at him to go home and only come back tomorrow.

The streets were covered with a thick layer of snow, piled to the side after being cleaned earlier that morning, he could see his breath every time he sighed loudly, pouting dramatically to no one in particular. He stopped at a park, bending down with a scowl and taking off his gloves so he could dig into the cold snow and mold some balls to throw at nothing. He could de-stress like this and he wouldn’t harm anyone so Iwaizumi can’t nag at him again.

So, getting into position like he was a baseball player, he threw some balls at the trees, feeling less tense at each desigrating snowball, even smiling when he threw one further than the others, hitting the ground a few meters behind the tree he was aiming at the first ones. Feeling confident, he made a smaller and solid ball so he could hit even farther and threw almost without looking, using as much force as he could and hitting someone in the face.

“Oof.” the person said, head going back a little with the surprise and the force of the ball and flailing around as he slipped on the ice and fell hard on the ground, head banging against the concrete with a loud thud.

Tooru, feeling his blood turning cold and his stomach sinking inside his belly, ran to them, saying a thousand ‘sorry’ so fast it was all jumbled together and almost indecipherable and oh- it was a boy. He looked familiar, and really cute.

“Are you ok?!” he asked frantically, kneeling beside the boy “I’m so sorry.”

“Is the world spinning or is it me?” the boy asked, a bit dazed.

“Uh… The world is always spinning kinda slowly, that’s how we have day and night, but I think right now it’s you who’s dizzy.”

“Am I? Wow.” he blinked “Do you think I need to go to the hospital?”

“ _ Yes. _ ” he helped the boy getting up slowly “Are you really okay?”

“Damn are your arms made of steel or something? Are you a robot? Am I disturbing your plans of world domination?” he looked at him with shining eyes, seeming so serious it threw Tooru off “Hey, I know you.”

“Do you?” he was amused, is he that popular even a kid from another school knew who he was?

“Yeah, you’re Tooru. Tocchan.” he nodded and then winced with a groan “I think I’m feeling sick.”

“Tocchan?! Wait, only one person called me that! Are you perhaps Kou-chan?”

“Yep, Koushi. If you excuse me a second.” he smiled sweetly before turning to his side, away from Tooru and throwing up whatever he had in his stomach really loudly and the other boy started to feel sick too, hesitating before patting his shoulder awkwardly.

“I can go with you to the hospital.” he said “I’m really sorry.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Koushi waved his hand “Could you carry me? I don’t think I can walk.”

Tooru quickly called a cab, rushing them to come quickly and sending a lengthy message to Koushi’s parents about what happened and that he was really sorry to hurt their son. The boy complained about his head aching too much and Tooru could only feel guilty and desperation, urging him to enter the car waiting for them, the driver looking as worried as the nurse who welcomed them to the hospital a few minutes after, taking Koushi to a room while she brought Tooru a tea for him to sit in the waiting room.

The doctor said Koushi had a mild concussion and Tooru held a gasp when he heard that from the boy’s mother in the hospital waiting room, continuously saying sorry and feeling bad. It wasn’t supposed to hit anyone, it was just a harmless snowball he threw with all his might to stop thinking about the things that frustrated him. It wasn’t supposed to make anyone fall and almost break their skull.

He remembered Koushi from elementary school, how he was pretty and cute and that he wanted to talk to him, only to push him too hard and hurt him, something he didn’t want to do. No surprise Koushi could remember him so well. And he remembers how he asked for forgiveness and maybe he could do it again, but without the flowers, he doesn’t want to scare him away thinking it was romantically and having his current girlfriend knowing about it, that would be a disaster.

So, when he entered the hospital room where Koushi was going to stay the night, he asked for the boy’s number so he could buy something for him to apologize.

“You don’t need to.” Koushi smiled gently “I know it wasn’t on purpose.”

“But!” he whined and pouted “Let me do this. Please. I’m feeling guilty and I don’t like it.”

Koushi giggled, almost like when they were little kids “Ok, then what about we go eat something instead?”

Tooru hummed “Ok. I’ll take you to the amusement park and we’ll eat a lot of trash food and have fun and you’ll forgive me for almost opening your head.”

“It’s a date.” he nodded “Give me your phone, we need a way to communicate.”

With Koushi’s number on his phone, he walked back home with his head full and heart squeezing inside his chest. A date. Koushi was so forward, so bold it took him by surprise. He knew it was a joke, even if the tone was serious, but it felt like they were really going out in a romantic air, and it made his heart skip a beat with that thought. Oh no, no, no. He can’t have thoughts like that, it’s wrong.

An hour later and he was laying on his bedroom floor, looking at the new number in his phone. Iwaizumi would probably be proud of him if he knew he was focusing on something that wasn’t volleyball, that he was staring at a screen that wasn’t showing a volleyball match - that he wasn’t  _ overworking. _ But Iwaizumi didn’t need to know about it and Tooru would keep this as a secret from anyone as long as he could.

He didn’t really know why he wanted to keep Koushi as a secret, but he felt he must.

Then, two weeks later, when Koushi’s mother said it was ok for them to go out and have fun without him getting hurt again, they went to an amusement park coincidently on Valentine’s Day. Maybe that’s why he said it was a date back in the hospital, it was really a joke - especially if he remembered that Tooru gave him a flower on this exact day when they were kids.

Koushi dragged him to every ride possible not minding the long lines and long waiting time, even going to the carousel, and who was Tooru to say no to that sweet angel smile? Even if said boy was a little devil who teased him in front of others so they would get a couple discount on a spicy food he wanted to eat during lunch. It was almost wild how Koushi could have fun with everything, coming up with absurd theories or stories about inanimate objects or people who passed by them, it always made Tooru laugh or choke or both - once he even snorted water through his nose.

And now they were in the ferris wheel, sitting in front of each other and looking at the sun setting (way too early still) far away on the horizon. It was really romantic, if he was honest, with the soft orange light hitting Koushi’s face just right, but Tooru was feeling really nervous with how high they were getting, slowly reaching the top.

“Are you ok?” Koushi asked, looking at him curiously.

“Yep.” he nodded. And really, he was fine, he just needed to stop thinking about the ways he could fall from there.

Koushi stared at him for a moment before opening his mouth again “How have you been these years? I think I forgot to ask.”

Tooru blinked. Oh, ok.

“I’m fine, I guess.” he shrugged “I play volleyball with Iwa-chan. And there’s this annoying kid in our team now and I really want to crush him.”

Koushi snorted “You’re still aggressive about it. I remember back in elementary school when you and Iwaizumi-san argued really loudly in the hallway about it. I think that’s why I chose to play too.”

“You play?!” Tooru’s eyes shined, moving a little on his seat to be closer to the other boy “Which position?”

“Setter.” he smiled softly.

Tooru scrunched up his nose “I’m a setter too. I bet I’m better than you.”

“You probably are.” he laughed, leaning his head on the glass.

They stayed in silence for a moment, looking out to the view and contemplating it, they still had an hour before the park closed and this was their last ride of the day. It was a really fun date and neither regrets it. And as they thought that with small smiles on their lips, Koushi nudging his finger against Tooru’s hand, the ferris wheel stopped suddenly, making their cab shake back and forth and surprising them.

“What happened?” Tooru asked almost in panic, hands flying to his sides to hold on something.

“I think it stopped? Maybe a failure? I’m sure they’re already working on it.” Koushi said, trying to see what was going on down there from the glass door and making the cab shake a bit more and that made Tooru cling harder on the bench and whine loudly “...Are you afraid of heights?”

“No? I’m afraid of falling, it’s different.” he scrunched his nose again, turning his head to the side and looking as arrogant as a kid lying about his fears as he trembled.

Smirking widely, Koushi started to swing his body to make the pod go back and forth, Tooru letting out a loud yelp and kneeling on the floor, still clinging on the bench. It was a funny sight so Koushi laughed so hard it gathered tears in his eyes, as he stopped the moviments and held his belly.

“Oh gods, you should see your face!”

“Not funny!” Tooru pouted.

“Do you want to hold my hand?” Koushi asked, his laughter stopping little by little “I promise not to shake again.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“...Ok. But only if you promise me you won’t tell anyone about it.”

Koushi snorted “Fine.”

Half an hour later, they both exit the ferris wheel still holding hands and laughing hard at some hilarious comment Koushi said while coming down, gaining confused stares from everyone nearby. They said sorry and that they were fine and thankful before almost running away from there, Tooru feeling his face hot and his cheeks starting to hurt from laughing so much. Never did he have so much fun with someone, especially while high off the ground.

Koushi was truly amazing.

Still smiling, they exchanged phone numbers on the train, sitting side by side until Koushi’s stop, talking lowly about UFO cases and theories of conspiracy - Tooru seriously explaining the importance of Roswell and Varginha cases.

  
  
  
  
  
  


The third time it happened, they were finishing their second year in highschool.

Since their date in the amusement park, Tooru and Koushi kept in contact, building up a strange friendship through social media, exchanging links to weird videos and pictures (funny or cute) and talking about shared likes in different media (television, cinema, music). Not even them still going to different schools could hinder their connection.

(tooru: whats technoviking?

kou-chan:  _ https://youtu.be/UjCdB5p2v0Y _

tooru: oh gods… the things you find on the internet kou-chan…

kou-chan: nobody finds technoviking, he finds you at the right time, not too soon and not too late

tooru: kou-chan, please…)

To Iwaizumi or anyone else, Tooru was just flirting with some online girlfriend while having one in real life. He didn’t want to talk about Koushi, and didn't want to share him. Koushi was his and no one else’s. It was his secret happiness, his secret  _ crush _ . And he’s a little afraid of that, of his own feelings.

During their first year, they end up going out again, but not on Valentine’s Day, after Tooru got dumped by his girlfriend at that time (something about volleyball being his priority) and Koushi was kind enough to go with him to the aquarium so the tickets wouldn’t go to waste. It was as fun as the first time, if not more, and they didn’t even notice the time passing by, being almost thrown out of the place when they were still laughing loud and hard on closing time near the stingrays after Koushi tried to imitate their “expressions”.

He was so silly and Tooru felt so comfortable beside him.

This led them to where they are now, being silly teenagers playing at an empty kid’s playground during winter after sunset because they had time and were impulsive enough, maybe even reckless, competing on rope climbing to see who went up first (Tooru) and who could step on the ground first (Koushi). They did this two times while barking a laugh and trying to kick the other, getting tangled sometimes and whining for help, before it all went bad.

They were getting down again for the third time, going faster and Koushi was winning again, but his foot got tangled on two ropes and Tooru was just above him, he needed to warn his friend before one of them got hurt, but before he could finish the first word of the sentence, Tooru’s right knee crashed against his nose, making it hurt.

“Kou-chan are you ok?!” Tooru asked almost instantly.

“Yeah, let’s just get down.” he rubbed his nose trying to will the pain away and kept climbing down pretty fast.

Something warm and wet started to leak from his nose and his first thought was that they stayed on the cold for too long, but when his gloved fingers came back from trying to dry his nose, he saw a damp red spot on it. In panic, he took off his glove and put his fingers directly where he could feel the liquid - it was blood, Koushi was bleeding and his nose was probably broken.

Oh no, what about volleyball-

“Tooru?” his voice shaked, his eyes starting to fill with tears.

“Oh my gods!”

Almost two hours later, Tooru was sitting in the hospital’s waiting room waiting for his friend to come back, wishing and praying that nothing more serious happened to him and that he doesn’t need surgery to fix his nose. He felt really guilty, with a sense of deja vu. He wanted to laugh or cry, or do both at the same time. His leg was bouncing nonstop due to his nerves and anxiousness. Should he text Koushi’s parents again like last time? He should pay for the hospital bill this time.

But Koushi apparently was fine, saying he only cracked his nose instead of breaking and the doctors said he needed to take some medicine and rest for two weeks with no sudden movements whatsoever and to take a break from training for at least three weeks to let it heal. Tooru let out the breath he didn’t even realize he was holding, hugging Koushi carefully and saying a thousand ‘sorry’ on his ear.

“Take me out on Valentine’s Day again and I’ll forgive you. Again.” Koushi chuckled, patting his back.

“Where do you want to go?” Tooru didn’t even blink, jumping on the opportunity to have another date with the pretty boy.

“Surprise me.” he smirked.

Ah, what a way to make his heart skip a beat.

Tooru insisted that he take Koushi back home, also paying for the taxi so they wouldn’t accidentally make everything worse, and the hurt boy tried to talk him out of it saying he did enough already, but Tooru was stubborn so they ended up parting at Koushi’s door after his mother nagged at both with a tired sigh, sending him home with a container of ohagi and a warm smile saying a soft thanks for what he did, making Tooru blush slightly and smile back. He could retort with his usual arrogant lines to make her laugh but the words died on his throat, feeling too caught up with the warmth.

A few days later, Tooru was at volleyball practice after school hours, looking at the ball in his hands like it had offended him personally while he kept thinking about what to do to surprise Koushi - and, really, could his mind stop creating dating ideas?

“Stop spacing out, Shittykawa.” he yelped as Iwaizumi slapped the back of his head.

“Iwa-chan!” he whined and pouted “So rude… I have important things to think about, ok?!”

“What important things? You take nothing serious besides volleyball.” he rolled his eyes.

“Rude!”

“Did you get dumped again?” Hanamaki asked behind him, approaching them with Matsukawa.

“It’s not that!” he whined again “It’s just…” could he talk to his friends about it? He probably could, but he doesn’t really want to, what if they felt burdened by it? Scrunching up his nose, he decided “I broke someone’s nose by mistake and I need to do something for them so I can apologize.”

His friends looked at him like he suddenly grew a second head and he felt regret, stomach feeling heavy with dread, but his expression continued intact, his pout petulant. But then Iwaizumi punched his arm with so much force he wobbled on his feet sideways, almost falling.

“Like you did to that kid back in elementary school? When you brought him a flower and alien band-aids?” he sighed tiredly, hand covering his eyes.

“He did that?” Hanamaki asked, surprised.

“Yeah, it was weirdly adorable and totally disgusting.” Iwaizumi made a face “Just buy them flowers too and say sorry, your hand’s not gonna fall.”

“I know that!”

“It’s a boy, then?” Matsukawa looked at him “Take him on a date.”

“What?!” everyone else in the school gym stopped what they were doing to look at them after Tooru’s sudden yell “Ma-makki!” he felt caged, he felt like a deer in the middle of a dark road frozen in front of a car’s headlights.

“If it was a girl you wouldn’t think so much.” Iwaizumi nodded “You would charm your way to make them feel important or something.”

“H-hey! Don’t make me sound like an asshole.”

“Oikawa is probably in love with this boy.” Hanamaki hummed.

“I’m not!”

“You’re probably right.” Matsukawa hummed back.

“But it’s not a good start, is it? Breaking his nose…” Hanamaki shook his head with a dramatic sigh.

“It was by mistake!”

“I pity this boy.” Matsukawa sighed too, nodding with his eyes closed, Iwaizumi holding his laugh not so subtly.

“I hate you all.” Tooru humphed and walked away, chin up and ignoring his friends' guffaws behind him.

He willed himself not to blush, trying not to think about what he just heard. It was too much. But maybe… Maybe he could. No. Volleyball now, (over)think later.

Pushing his thought aside for almost two weeks in the end was worth it, or so Tooru liked to say to himself while he looked at his reflection on his small mirror, ready to go to Koushi’s house to “surprise” him. He felt nervous somehow, heart beating fast in his chest and butterflies flying wildly in his belly. His thoughts were chaotic, going from cliché scenarios to worst case scenarios.

Well, good or not, he prepared everything and there’s no going back now. Especially not when Koushi already texted him asking if he’s still coming.

(Tooru didn’t know, but Koushi was as nervous as him, changing clothes nervously)

He looked at last night’s messages, laughing softly when he saw the link to Tchaikovsky - 1812 Overture (full with Cannons, Fireworks and Bell Tower). That was weird, as all the videos Koushi finds on YouTube, like the thumb war championship or the “my name is Giovanni Giorgio, but everybody calls me Giorgio”, but Tooru couldn’t help but hum it while walking down the street to take the bus. He sent a message when he was getting closer and Koushi was already at his door waiting.

“Good morning.” Koushi said almost softly, smiling at him “Where are we going today?”

Tooru smiled back, walking side by side with him back to the bus stop “Well… I thought about eating at a café on Jozenji-dori. And then walking around until they light up the trees.”

“Ooh~ You’re so romantic when you want, Tooru.” he snorted, punching his arm with less force than usual “Why do you always get dumped? Ah~ because you pay more attention to volleyball than your girlfriends.”

“Kou-chan~” he whined “You know, my friends asked me if I was going on a date with a boy and I really didn’t know how to react.”

“What did they say?” he seemed worried, looking straight at him with all of his attention.

“They pity you.”

Koushi laughed loudly at his seriousness, doubling down and slapping his own thigh, making Tooru feel embarrassed and amused in equal parts. Fortunately, they were the only ones on the bus stop and on the street - which wasn’t so weird in that area.

“Yes, do laugh at my misfortunes.” Tooru sighed dramatically “But seriously, they caught me off guard and now I’m rethinking everything I ever said or did that gave me away.”

“Oh, man.” Koushi said as his laughter died out, wiping a stray tear on his left eye “Why are you so worried about coming out to your friends?”

Tooru shrugged.

“I’m afraid.” he mumbled with another sigh, looking down to the concrete below “I know how this is a taboo here, I know how people like me are treated, I know what my family thinks about it… I just wanted to  _ not _ be like this. I thought if I could ignore it, if I could act like I wasn’t like this… It would all fade away and I would be  _ normal _ .”

He was almost startled when Koushi caressed the side of his forehead softly before pushing his hair aside with a gentle smile. Tooru tried to move his lips to form a smile too, but it only shaked, his throat closing with the want to cry, but he wouldn’t. Not there, in the middle of a bus stop with said vehicle already coming. So he only exhaled softly, shakily, and closed his eyes, rubbing his head a little against Koushi’s finger.

“You’re normal, you know.” he said quietly “And it’s really scary, I know this better than anyone, but I also know that you’re not weak. It’s ok to be afraid, Tooru.” as soon as he finished saying, they looked at each other’s eyes with clear affection while the bus stopped slowly and opened its doors for them “Now, c’mon, we have a date to go through.”

Tooru laughed, with tears gathered at the corner of his eyes, one hand in front of his face and the other holding Koushi’s who was pulling him inside the vehicle excitedly. They sat side by side, ignoring everyone else and talking quietly between themselves.

He never felt so light, so free.

After losing almost an hour on a famous brand store playing around with the stuffed toys and taking cute and funny pictures they would absolutely  _ not _ show their friends, they decided to compete on the claw machines with Tooru getting a stuffed bunny and refusing to give it to his companion saying it was  _ his _ because  _ he _ won, Koushi made them enter the small cute gift shop he saw.

“Do you want to have matching Totoros…?” Koushi asked, partly hiding himself behind a small stuffed Totoro, his eyes crinkling at the edges.

That is how they end up sitting at a café on Jozenji-dori Avenue almost three hours later with more bags than they were supposed to have, with their matching keyrings with little stuffed Totoros and different ones for Koushi’s mother and little brother, eating late lunch while talking about movies and feeding each other so casually they didn’t even realize people were looking at them, too busy enjoying themselves with a lot of smiles and soft chuckles and loud laughs.

Tooru couldn’t help but keep staring at Koushi when he talked excitedly about his childhood adventures trying to catch Totoro at his grandparent’s house deep into the mountains, making funny sound effects and waving his hands around. It was cute and beautiful and Tooru was in love.

Later, already with full bellies, they walked through the tall trees by the middle of the avenue, talking in low voices about the couples around them, jokily giving them expiration day or snickering over ugly matching outfits. Tooru tried to make fun of the sugary nicknames and Koushi only stared at him before sarcastically saying that he was a pot and laughing when Tooru whined back.

They decided to enter another café, on the other side of the street, complaining about the cold. They sat by the window, looking down at the couples walking around while drinking hot chocolate and a cold strawberry latte, and eating fruit tartelettes.

“Why are you drinking a cold drink when you’re whining about being too cold outside?” Tooru asked with arched eyebrows.

“Because I want to.” Koushi shrugged before grinning “And nobody can stop me.”

Tooru rolled his eyes with an amused smile.

Koushi stared at him for a moment, squinting his eyes and then snickering quietly into his hand. Tooru blinked in confusion, smiling at the other with a question in his eyes.

“Tooru~ Totoro~ Totooru~” he said, choking with his drink as he continued to laugh.

“Seriously?” he snorted “What should I call you? Sophie?”

“Oh!” Koushi’s eyes brightened “Yes, please~”

They laughed together.

It was already dusk when they went out again, shivering a bit with the cold as soon as they stepped on the street now full of people. Going with the flow, they walked almost all the way to the end of the walkway, stopping to stare at the lights on the leafless trees. Tooru wanted to kiss Koushi, but held back, his heart beating fast and hard - he couldn’t even bring himself to hold his hand publicly, too afraid to be seen.

Maybe one day.

When it was already too dark and too cold, they decided to go back home, saying their goodbyes at Koushi’s train stop.

“You call this a kiss?!” Koushi snorted sarcastically, even if his cheeks were pink, after receiving an innocent hesitant peck on his cheek “Weak.”

“Hey!” Tooru also blushed a little, wrinkling his nose “I can kiss you if you want to.”

“Next date.” Koushi said with a wave and getting up to walk to the car exit “Send me a message when you arrive home~”

  
  
  
  
  
  


The fourth time… It didn’t really happen. It was in Buenos Aires and it wasn’t Valentine’s Day.

After a few years dating with lots of fights, some petty and some really big like the time Tooru said he was going to South America to play professionally, and sneaking around (Tooru only came out to his family in the morning of his flight to Argentina, surprising everyone, even himself - although his closest friends catched what was going on really quickly - and making a scene on the airport kissing Koushi right there in front of everyone before waving playfully and walking away), Koushi decided to buy a plane ticket and go there himself to visit his boyfriend during summer holidays.

It wasn’t easy to go through a 30 hour plane trip going to different airports in different countries to catch a new plane until he finally stepped on Argentinean soil, hugging Tooru tightly and almost falling asleep against his chest, for his boyfriend’s amusement. It was less easy to realize he brought the wrong clothes thinking it was also summer there and getting surprised by the low temperatures of winter.

Taking some free time from training, Tooru went around the city with his boyfriend, showing some of the biggest tourist attractions and making him eat local food. And now they're having fun while riding bicycles through a park Koushi couldn’t pronounce the name, competing against each other like the kids they used to be.

“Aren’t you too rusty, Totooru~? Forgot how to ride a bike?” Koushi laughed, zigzagging in front of him.

“Of course not!” he complained loudly, putting more force on his legs “I’ll win!”

Koushi laughed again “Sure.”

Tooru had to stop or he would fall, as a family passed by without really caring about him, but thanking him nonetheless for stopping. Koushi looked behind and made a turn, going back to where Tooru was, one feet on the ground and the other still on the pedal. Koushi circled him once with a soft and childish “woo~” and, faking annoyance, Tooru raised one of his legs to try to kick him.

The man laughed loudly, deflecting him easily before circling him one more time. Jokily whining, Tooru raised his leg once again and this time, trying to get out of the away again, Koushi wobbled on the bicycle, losing control. Thinking fast, Tooru reached for him and helped him stabilize, heart beating fast with the slight fright and his own bicycle falling on his feet.

“You’re ok, Kou-chan?”

“Yeah.” he said breathlessly before giggling “I’m glad you didn’t hurt me  _ again _ .”

“Hey!” Tooru blushed, embarrassed “At least I already had a surprise ready if I needed to apologize  _ again _ .” he let go of his boyfriend and raised his bicycle from the ground.

“You’re adorable when you’re embarrassed. That’s why they pick on you so much.” he snorted “And you need to stop hurting me to use it as an excuse to take me out on a date.”

“I don’t do it on purpose, ok?” he showed his tongue childishly.

“If you say so~” Koushi blinked, trying to look cute and innocent, and not sarcastic at all.

(and nailing it, but Tooru doesn’t want to show weakness in front of him)

Tooru sighed, acting tired “What do you think about a romantic dinner watching a tango show?”

“Oh!” Koushi’s eyes shined like when he first called him Sophie “I would love.”

“I know.” Tooru smiled genuinely.

“And when it is?”

“You’ll know when it’s time.” he made a dramatic gesture like a magician after a trick.

“...I hate you.”

Tooru spluttered “K-kou-chan~!”

Koushi faked his surprise two days later when Tooru came back home from training that night asking him to dress nicely as they were going out on a date. Although he didn’t know  _ where _ they were going exactly, he couldn’t forget what his boyfriend said at the park, so he knew what to expect.

Their VIP tickets allowed them to eat dinner quietly while watching a couple dancing tango on the stage, feeding each other casually without even asking if they wanted to, just instinctively knowing it, wearing slightly formal attire and looking like the tall handsome couple they were. It was both their first time there and it was all very nice and it took their breath away.

After the show and the dinner, they were ushered to another room where their tango class would happen - a genuinely pleasant surprise for Koushi. And, although they were the only non straight couple there, they had a lot of fun and were highly praised by everyone, not getting any ugly looks or hearing any whisper, for their discreet relief.

And to everyone’s but the staff surprise, while they were applauding each other by the end of the class, Tooru got on one knees with a forced cof to gain attention and opened a small box with two rings inside, Koushi gasping loudly with everyone else and tearing up almost immediately.

“Yes.” he choked out, nodding.

“I haven't even asked yet!” Tooru laughed, tearing up too “Kou-chan, my Sophie. Would you give me the honor to make your life less boring with my dashing looks and  _ amazing _ personality?” Koushi laughed at that, covering his mouth and nodding unconsciously “I know we’ll have to live in different countries for a long time and this will hurt the both of us, but I really love you and I know you love me too, so why not? You make me happy everyday, Koushi. Everyday. And I want to make you happy too.”

“Yes.” he nodded again.

“Will you marry me? Even if we can’t do it back home?” Tooru sniffed.

“I already said yes, stupid.” Koushi laughed.

Tooru got up with a smile and hugged him really tight, not even hearing the commotion around them.

“Let’s be normal together.”

“Yes, let’s.”

And they kissed. Or at least tried - forgetting about Tooru’s glasses and laughing out loud when they bumped against it, almost hurting his nose. Koushi took off his glasses with a chuckle and kissed his nose with a soft sorry, before kissing his lips while still smiling.

“Pay back.” Koushi murmured against his lips.

They had to make multiple video calls after getting back to Tooru’s apartment late at night, too excited not to show their rings to their closest friends and supporting family, and almost not getting any sleep and by the next day a picture was uploaded to Tooru’s account to update his fans too, as well as a small video. Koushi declined every journalist's calls, joking about how famous they are as a couple now so they could earn more money with it. Tooru shot back that they could start a revolution back in Japan and make them see their marriage as official and legal.

And, yes, Koushi still sends Tooru weird YouTube videos that make him rethink his whole life - like the Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship. How does Koushi find these videos? Tooru doesn’t know and, honestly, he doesn't really think he  _ wants _ to, and he says it’s  _ flirting _ . Not that he minds, he loves seeing Koushi having fun.

(few years later, Tooru spiked a ball on Koushi’s back on a friendly match while he was visiting Japan for holidays, treating him by buying a little stuffed Sophie with his San Juan jersey over her dress)

**Author's Note:**

> the weird videos thing is based on my friend who do send me these videos:
> 
> [technoviking](https://youtu.be/UjCdB5p2v0Y)
> 
> [tchaikovsky 1812 overture](https://youtu.be/QUpuAvQQrC0)
> 
> [giorgio](https://youtu.be/hyGfCUVpD_k)
> 
> [Heavy Metal Knitting World Championship](https://youtu.be/RvQutLRIKeY)


End file.
